Pain in Secure Environments

Pain in Secure Environments is being run by the Faculty of Pain Medicine and is endorsed by Public Health England. The course has been developed to meet the workforce training requirements for those professionals working within Secure Environments.

The management of patients with pain in secure environments presents healthcare professionals with a number of challenges specific to that setting. It is the right of every person in custody to have access to good quality evidence-based pain management that can be safely delivered to them and that does not put others at risk. Good pain management is underpinned by an understanding of the complexity of the pain experience and the influences on the perception of pain, and careful holistic assessment of the patient’s pain and their physical and emotional health. Many treatments for pain may have limited benefit and it is important for both patients and healthcare professionals to understand the likely outcomes of therapy and to use strategies to reduce intensity of pain in parallel with physical rehabilitation and attention to unmet emotional needs.

This educational programme aims to support not only healthcare professionals, but also others who support the patient in custody to learn more about how we experience pain and how to assess a patient who complains of pain. The training day will include discussions on the available therapeutic options that can help the patient manage their pain. The training will be structured around clinical scenarios drawn from patients in prison and will reflect the specific challenges in relation to both common healthcare problems in this patient population and the setting in which healthcare is delivered.

The training aims to empower professionals working with patients in pain to be confident that they are delivering good quality, safe, evidence-based care.

"I really valued the course content and presentation and benefited immensely from having opportunity to discuss the issues around chronic pain and substance abuse. The course allowed us insight in to how other prisons are operating similar clinics or reviews and to evolve our own model."